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"speaker_name": "Mr. Konchella",
"speaker_title": "The Minister of State for Immigration and Registration of Persons",
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"legal_name": "Gideon Sitelu Konchella",
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"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move that the Refugees Bill be now read a Second Time. The issue is an old problem in the world. In Kenya, the history of refugees dates back to pre-Independence period. However, the country started hosting fairly large numbers of refugees in the 1980s from neighbouring countries like Ethiopia, Uganda and Somalia. The situation got worse when the Said Barre regime in Somalia collapsed. The overthrow of Mengistu's Government in Ethiopia and the war in Sudan created a large outflow of refugees in the early 1990s. Since then, Somalia has had no functional government, and the region has remained generally tense. In order to handle the early refugee crisis of the 1990s, the Government of Kenya set up several refugee camps in the North Eastern and Coast Provinces to take care of the situation. However, with time, most of the camps were closed down due to national security concerns and other demands. Today, we have only two camps in the country; Daadab in Garissa District, and Kakuma in Turkana District. The Kakuma Refugee Camp hosts refugees mainly from Southern Sudan, Ethiopia and the Great Lakes Region. Daadab Refugee Camp mainly accommodates Refugees from Somalia. It is important to note that there are official Government policies on refugees, but we have a number of refugees residing in our urban centres or towns. The recent alien registration exercise undertaken by the Ministry in Nairobi identified over 50,000 aliens, some of whom are refugees. The refugee population in Kenya, therefore, can be estimated at over 270,000 or thereabout. The Government of Kenya is a signatory to the Geneva Convention of 1951, relating to the 3630 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 14, 2006 statutes of refugees, and the 1969 Convention governing specific aspects of refugees in Africa. We are also party to several treaties and several protocols on refugee matters. We have been able to observe our international obligations on refugee matters over the years, which has been appreciated all over the world. Several other countries, like our neighbours Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, have developed and adopted domestic legislation to provide a framework in handling matters pertaining to refugees. In the year 2003, the Refugees Bill, 2003, was debated in the House, and hon. Members raised a number of issues which included the following: One was that refugee camps are located in hostile environments with fragile ecosystems, causing environmental degradation. Secondly, perennial conflict between refugees and the hosting communities brought about disparities between the two. Thirdly, insecurity due to proliferation of small arms being associated with the refugees. Fourthly, neglecting internally displaced persons (IDPs) and concentrating on refugees on refugee affairs. At that time, the Government had not set up a commission to resettle victims of tribal clashes, and yet the Government wanted the Refugees Bill passed. Those were the concerns of hon. Members during the debate of the Refugees Bill, 2003. There were also proposals to amend the Refugees Bill in 2003, as follows: First, that the Minister should have express authority to determine the location of refugees camps, in consultation with seconders, especially locals of the areas identified. Secondly, Section 4 of the Refugees Bill, 2003 which talks of disqualifying asylum seekers on grounds of having committed an act of terrorism be defined. Hon. Members argued that freedom fighters like the late Jomo Kenyatta and Nelson Mandela were viewed as terrorists while they were not. Hon. Members at that time also observed that some aliens were in the country as economic refugees and that the Government had not addressed the issue of IDPs adequately. The hon. Members' concern was that the House passed a Motion calling on the Government to set up a commission to settle clash victims, but it dragged its feet. The Government has considered all issues that were raised by hon. Members before reintroducing the Refugees Bill, 2006. Section 16(3) and Section 17 provide for the management of refugee camps in a sustainable, environmentally sound manner. There are also proposed amendments to Section 7 to make it the responsibility of the Commissioner for Refugees to ensure sustainable use of resources in refugee hosting areas. On the concerns of the perennial conflict between the refugees and the hosting communities, the proposed amendment to Section 7 requires the Commissioner for Refugees to initiate, in collaboration with the development partners, projects that promote peaceful co-existence between the host communities and the refugees. Regarding the issue of proliferation of small arms being associated with refugees, there is an administrative arrangement already in place that requires rigorous screening of all incoming refugees at the borders, in order to ensure that refugees admitted to camps to not bring arms along with them. On the concern of Section 4 of the Refugees Bill, 2003, which sought to disqualify an asylum seeker on the ground of having committed an act of terrorism, we agree with the concern of hon. Members and proposed an amendment to delete the words \"an act of terrorism\" from Section 4(a) since it had been covered under crime against humanity. On the proposal that the Minister should not have express authority to determine the location of refugee camps, there is a proposed amendment to Section 16(2), which states that, \"the Minister may, by notice of a gazette notice, in consultation with the host communities, designate places and other areas in Kenya to be transit centres and refugee camps. On the issue of economic refugees, the concern is being addressed under the provision of the Immigration Act, under the Aliens Registration Act, which categorises the immigrants in Kenya. That is the Act that addresses that concern. November 14, 1006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3631 The Refugees Bill, 2006, deals with refugees and the refugee hosting communities only. The Government recognises that internally displaced persons and refugees are under different protection regimes. A refugee is a person who, for fear for his or her life, crosses the border of the country of origin to seek safety or security in another country. Unlike Refugees, IDPs remain in their own county and enjoy protection of the Government as citizens of that country. Recognising these facts, the Government established a task force to address the issue of IDPs, their security and settlement concerns. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Kenya recently received over 30,000 refugees from Somalia due to the current conflict between the Islamic Courts Union and the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia. Between January and July this year, we were receiving about 300 refugees daily due to the present tension between Somalia and its neighbouring states. Since August 2006, this number has increased to an average of 700 refugees per day. This makes the Refugees Bill, 2006, very urgent and a priority in our legislative role in order to make management of refugees more orderly and effective."
}